A conventional gear shift console of a long-haul truck, or other similar type of vehicle, is positioned in the truck's cab so it is accessible to a driver. The gear shift console is stationary and is rigidly mounted to the floor of the cab to the right of the driver seat between the driver seat and the forward passenger seat. However, the stationary shift console between the driver and passenger seats provides a substantial obstacle that the driver or passenger must climb over or around when moving about the cab. For example, a conventional long-haul truck has a sleeper compartment positioned behind the driver and passenger seats. To gain access to the sleeper compartment from the driver or passenger seats, a driver or passenger must move out of his or her respective seat, over or around the gear shift console, and through the space between the seats. Accordingly, the location of the stationary gear shift console is very cumbersome and awkward when trying to move about the vehicle's cab.
A further drawback to the stationary, floor-mounted gear shift console occurs upon adjusting the vertical or the fore/aft position of the driver seat. When the driver seat is moved vertically, fore, or aft, the gear shift console does not move with the seat, so the relative distance between the seat and the gear shift console changes. The optimum position of the driver seat relative to the truck's steering wheel, control pedals, and control panels often will not correspond to the optimum position of the gear shift console relative to the seat for each driver. Thus, while the driver seat is adjustable in several directions to accommodate different sizes or drivers or different driving styles, the conventional, stationary gear shift console is not adjustable to accommodate different drivers.